Phaon crescent butterfly on native frogfruit. Photo by Janis Piotrowski.
Not all nature-loving hippies are peacemakers, at least not when it comes to manicured lawns. Murderous pleas to “kill your lawn” implore suburbanites to ditch the pitch and plant native instead. This native groundswell grows larger by the day as more folks learn about how small changes in their lives can make a big impact in their environment. Native groundcovers fill this niche and, often, fill in areas where sod might never grow.
My personal lawnicidal urges began in January of 2021 when my sod turned brown due to the cold and simultaneously drowned in the winter rains. I walked outside and my yard felt more like a sponge than a lawn. I looked up a simple solution to this issue and learned that many native plants absorb a lot of water. I planted a native tree, native shrubs that love wet feet, and water-loving wildflowers, all of which reduced the standing water in my yard to a great extent.
Still, areas my dog traversed showed signs of wear and tear in addition to crispy brown grass in the summer and soggy brown grass in the winter. So, my experiment with native groundcovers commenced. I dug out sections of my lawn, mulched, and planted native groundcovers.
Below are profiles of these individual plants and my observations.
The fan-favorite native frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) thrives in full sun to part shade, adapts to many different soils, and grows vigorously. Chartreuse green vines reach and ramble, crisscrossing itself multiple times. These vines boast tiny, white flowers with purple centers containing flecks of gold. Bees alight on the blooms and multiple butterflies, including common buckeye, phaon crescent, and white peacock, as well as skippers and moths, use frogfruit as a larval food. Frogfruit spreads by rhizomes and endures trampling from pets, foot traffic, and mowing. Frogfruit keeps foliage in the winter, shedding a few leaves and looking less exuberant, yet still maintaining a nice plentiful appearance.
Sensitive plant or sunshine mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa) loves full sun to part shade and takes moist soils. Its pink, cotton candy blooms resemble the blooms of its relative, the invasive mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin). This native groundcover sustains insects, hosts the little sulphur butterfly, and provides coverage for frogs. It spreads by rhizome and grows aggressively. This plant cooperates less than frogfruit and its deeper roots make it harder to pull and a bit more unruly than the frogfruit. The only drawback? In the winter, the foliage thins out and leaves behind a sparse vine.
Sunshine mimosa being grown as a groundcover for blueberries. Photo by Janis Piotrowski.
Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) grows well in full sun to part shade. Classic white strawberry flowers appear in early spring followed by tasty small strawberries in the summer. Wild strawberry grows prolifically by runners and adds a bit of whimsy to the yard while providing food for you and other creatures. Wild strawberry’s tough leaves flip and flop over when kicked around, but this plant thrived despite frequent sabotage by my bulldozer of a dog.
Golden ragwort (Packera aurea) maintains its evergreen, fun lilypad-esque foliage and even blooms in the late winter. Its stalks of yellow flowers provide winter pollinators food when nectar sources are scarce. This perennial groundcover spreads by rhizomes and fills areas in a nice carpet of flush green. A combination of golden ragwort and leaf mulch satisfactorily prevents weeds from breaking through, but this plant does not take as much traffic. Place in full shade to part sun with moisture.
Golden ragwort maintains evergreen foliage and even blooms in the late winter. Photo by Wendy Klooster, Ohio State University OARDC, Bugwood.org
Partridge berry (Mitchella repens) requires full shade to part sun and loves a moist forest bed. Its small evergreen leaves add a texture and pattern. Partridge berry blooms white flowers in the early spring and bears tiny, red berries for animals from fall through winter. This plant SLOWLY colonizes! Partridge berry tolerates some foot traffic and loves mulch but cannot compete with more aggressive groundcovers or grasses.
Shade-dependent Walter’s violet (Viola walteri) slowly colonizes by seed and rhizome. Its silver foliage thins out in the summer but fills in vacant areas during the winter. Tiny purple-blue flowers like jewels shimmer across the landscape. Walter’s violet tolerates light foot traffic and mostly fills in patches. Do not expect a crop of these violets to spread the entire width of your yard.
The major takeaway: plant native groundcovers with the knowledge of their on and off seasons. Native groundcovers are like the tides, they come in and go out. They encroach and retreat during certain seasons so plant them appropriately. And do not be afraid to plant them beside each other for this very reason! Close plantings, like waves, crash into each other and form beautiful collisions.
Native groundcovers often suppress weeds and provide wildlife food. Minimize your lawn and maximize your biodiversity by planting native!